Labour utilization pattern in management of various categories of dairy animals*

A time motion study was undertaken to establish time requirements on various dairy farm operations for different categories of animals at Dairy Experimental Station, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Milking operation constituted major item of work in milch buffaloes. Feeding, washing of animals and cleaning of sheds consumed a considerable time spent on milch buffaloes. Feeding of milch animals took almost double the time over the pregnant and dry animals because of the additional work involved in soaking of concentrate mixture two times prior to feeding at the time of milking. Pregnant animals took more time for miscellaneous works because of additional care shown towards their management. Higher feeding and watering time for heifers recorded in the study may be attributed to higher feed requirement based on their body weight. Lowest idle time in calves was found due to the delay in commencing routine work and leaving of workers from the farm earlier than the scheduled time. More time was spent for washing of bulls over bullocks because of their aggressive behaviour and special attention paid by the farmers towards management of bulls. Since exercise is a part of daily routine of bull management, miscellaneous works consumed higher time in maintenance of bulls. A considerable amount of time was wasted as idle time among all categories of animals due to lack of implementation of time framed schedule.